The fates of thousands of victims of the 2012 riots in Assam’s Bodo heartland is drawing a contrast with the ‘Assam Model of development’, which was hyped by AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi during almost all his poll campaigns in Assam this lok Sabha polls.
The AICC leader took up the concept of ‘Assam Model of development’ to counter the wave for BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and his much talked about ‘Gujarat model of development’.
Gandhi had attended at least six public rallies — at Guwahati, Silchar, Biswanath, Chariali, Dibrugarh and Nagaon in Assam in the run-up to the three phased polls in Assam that started on April 7 and said that Assam does not need ‘Gujarat Model’ of development and hailed the ‘Assam Model’ of development initiated by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in the State.
After Rahul Gandhi, the Assam CM had made the ‘Assam Model’ as one of his signature statements to attack the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
However, the condition of some of the people living in Kokrajhar and its adjoining areas under Kokrajhar lok Sabha constituency — which had witnessed the worst ever riots between the Bodos and Bengali speaking Muslims in 2012 — draws a different picture, which is in sharp contrast with the ‘Assam Model’ of development.
“We are yet to get the compensation for the loss we suffered during the violence. We have lost our houses, family members, belongings and everything. It’s almost two years now but we have received only meager amounts from the administration for our loss,” said Aminul Haque, a resident of Dotoma and one of the many victims of the 2012 riots.
“I heard that in Gujarat, the victims of riots have received Rs 5 lakh as compensation. I have received a cheque of Rs 22,700 initially and later another cheque of Rs 30,000. This is discrimination. We are all Indians and there should be equal compensation for everyone,” Haque said.
Haque and most of the other families in the village had to stay in relief camps in Raniganj near Fakiragram for over one year after the riots. “We came back here in November 2013 after the Government assured us to build houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and full protection,” said Nabab Hussain.
“After coming back we have received monthly ration for four months, which they have stopped now. As we could not cultivate our lands when we were in camps, life has become difficult for us. There is no electricity, water supply and security picket had been withdrawn about four months back,” he said.
Kokrajhar and some other areas of Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) of Assam had turned into a cauldron of violence after clashes broke out between Bodos, which is the dominant tribe in BTAD, and the Bengali speaking Muslim settlers in the areas. While, over 100 civilians belonging to both the communities have been killed due to the violence that continued for over a month, it also displaced over four lakh population.
“Some of the displaced people have also permanently left their ancestral lands in BTAD and settled in other areas fearing backlash in future. These people who used to live there for centuries and cultivate their lands have become daily wage earners,” he added.